The present invention is in the field of heavy-duty, load-bearing vehicles. Specifically, the present invention is in the field of dump trucks. More specifically, the present invention is a novel dump body for a dump truck.
Presently, many types of vehicles are used for carrying various bulky, cumbersome loads. Flat bed trucks and trucking rigs with semitrailers are used for carrying pallets of heavy items, such as lumber (xe2x80x9cpackaged loadsxe2x80x9d). Looser bulk loads, such as dirt, mulch, or fertilizer (xe2x80x9cloose loadsxe2x80x9d)xe2x80x94in large quantitiesxe2x80x94are carried by dump trucks. The benefit of the dump truck is a loose load requires a tipping, load-bearing body to remove the loads efficiently. Businesses that need to transport an array of these loads needs to own a multitude of vehicles as required for the loads. Ideally, a single vehicle would be capable of transporting packaged loads, such as lumber pallets, as well as loose loads.
A similar problem is encountered attempting to transport loose loads and packaged loads from one location to another. Often neither the loose load nor the packaged load is large enough so that weight or volume dictates the need for multiple vehicles. However, no one vehicle presently exists that can transport both the packaged load and loose load. Flat bed trucks would have difficulty efficiently carrying loose loads and depositing the loads at the destination while the sides of the dump body on a dump truck makes loading and unloading pallets in the dump body impossible. As a result, multiple vehicles are used to transport the loads when the volume and weight of the combined loads only merits a single vehicle. Therefore, a vehicle is needed that can simultaneously carry packaged loads and loose loads.
Similarly, there are occasions when two separate loose loads need to be transported to a single location. Again multiple vehicles, or a singular vehicle making multiple trips is required to transport the loads when the volume and weight of the combined loads only merits a single vehicle. Therefore, a vehicle is needed that can simultaneously carry multiple, individual loose loads separately.
Previous vehicles have been devised to multiple loose loads in a dump body of a dump truck. Those vehicles contained partition doors in the middle of the vehicle, which separated the multiple loads and were manually opened from inside the dump body. Each of the partition doors extended across have of the dump body, meeting in the center of the dump body where they were latched. Dump bodies are not constructed for convenient access for individuals. Ideally, a dump body could be designed with a latched partition operable from outside the dump body.
The present invention is based on the realization that a heavy-duty transportation vehicle can be constructed to carry both packaged and loose loads by installing a side door on a dump body for a dump truck. The side door would permit the loading and unloading of pallets or other packaged loads with a forklift onto the dump body, while the dump body would remain tippable for unloading loose loads.
One embodiment of the present invention would also include at least one partition within the dump body for compartmentalizing the body and separating the loads. Under this embodiment, the dump body could be partitioned to create a front and back compartment. The front compartment would utilize a side door and carry packaged loads. The back compartment would carry loose loads, which are released through a backdoor to the dump body when the dump body is tipped.
Therefore, it is an object of one embodiment of the present invention to design a single vehicle capable of transporting either a large, packaged load or a large, loose load with a single vehicle.
It is further object of one embodiment of the present invention to enable the separated transportation of a large, packaged load and a large, loose load on a single vehicle.
It is a further object of one embodiment of the present invention to enable the separated transportation of two large, loose loads on a single vehicle.